Why is eternal life such a big deal anyway?
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11: 21-26Resurrection is (as you can imagine) a pretty talked about subject within the Christian context. It is the crux of the entire faith; the reason we worship and praise Jesus; the final victory and the defeat of death; all for our sake. However, outside Christian circles, this is not always the case...
It appears to me that non-Christians are able to look at this 'story' and either try and argue it never happened / was made up or exaggerated or even ask the following questions;
"What is the big deal about living forever? Why cant we just enjoy our life now and not worry about the future? What is wrong with 'this being it'?"
My response to these questions is pretty simple and straight forward;
Seriously...??
Are you genuinely OK with just this?
Can you, in all good faith, look around this world and say that 'I am fine with this', 'this is good enough'?
In world as chaotic, nasty (evil?), unfair and unjust as this one, I find it deeply troubling that some people can be content to accept their life will never be better than this and what we have is 'fine'. Where every wrong decision is final, where every minute wasted is gone and gone forever, where it doesn't matter if you find a relationship that lasts or if you ever really feel loved at all. Where the sheer luck of where you are born or who your parents are will pretty much determine your quality of life and shape your personality completely.
I simply can't accept this idea as the truth, the final word and the only reason for existence.
There must be more...
And the good news is... there is more... and not just in heaven, but on earth as well.
As Jesus says, we will rise again, we never really die and eternal life with our true heavenly Father is waiting for us on the other side of this life. And to me, this makes everything worthwhile on this earth, in our lives and in the lives of everyone we meet who know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
That is the reason we sing about resurrection so often and the reason why it matters so much.
And I, for one, am eternally grateful for Jesus' sacrifice for me! Hallelujah!!